International Development Fund - inclusive education programme: report

Definitions

Inclusive Education

In this business case we use the term “inclusive education” to mean that different and diverse learners are welcomed, learning and achieving alongside their peers, feeling safe and secure with participation through informed parental decision-making. In the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), it should be delivered in supportive environments in which “all members of the community are welcomed equally, with respect to (the different types of) diversity (UN, 2006).

Disability

We conceptualise disability according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), a bio-psycho-social model of disability, framed within a rights-based agenda (all human rights). The ICF considers disability to be an umbrella concept, encompassing the mechanisms by which a health condition (e.g. polio) can lead to impairment (e.g. lower limb impairment), activity limitations (e.g. difficulties walking) and participation restrictions (e.g. unable to walk to school). The potential impact of the health condition on the child’s lived experience of disability is mediated by personal factors (e.g. age, developing relationships, contributing to family income) and environmental factors (e.g. access to appropriate EdTech or enabling, inclusive educational systems). Developmental disability is used to describe disorders in children affecting the nervous system, and include cerebral palsy, sensory impairments (vision or hearing), global developmental delay, autism and epilepsy (Lynch et al. 2023).